Many services are deeply embedded in a country´s social, cultural or political context. Some of them are essential for human life or have important infrastructural characteristics. More broadly, many play a key role in achieving the MDGs.
The following services are cases in point:
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In these sectors, Governments face the challenge of ensuring that services are adequately provided, including to the poor and marginalized members of society. National policies for ensuring access are determined by a series of factors, including a country´s specific economic and social situation, its particular policy objective (e.g. accessibility/affordability, efficiency, reducing expenses to government/taxpayers), as well as its international commitments and obligations.
The expert meeting will:
- analyse key characteristics of essential services sectors and universal access;
- look at national experiences and specific policy tools for ensuring access to universal services;
- examine how national policies differ across countries and sectors and what can be done at the international level to increase access;
- discuss the role of the Government and the private sector in these services; and
- review linkages between universal access policies and negotiations under the GATS.
The meeting will place particular emphasis on how to harness services trade as a tool for improving universal access and on what the key challenges are in this context.
The meeting will bring together experts and practitioners from the relevant intergovernmental organizations, research institutions, civil society and the private sector, as well as national experts from UN Members States. Moreover, the meeting will benefit from the UNCTAD secretariat´s expertise in both:
- assessment of services sectors/policies at the national/regional levels, and
- trade negotiations at the international level.
It is intended to make a valuable contribution towards assuring development gains from the multilateral trading system.
